title: Facet-dependent electrochemical properties of Co3O4 nanocrystals toward heavy metal ions.
abstract: We revealed an interesting facet-dependent electrochemical behavior toward heavy metal ions (HMIs) based on their adsorption behaviors. The (111) facet of Co3O4 nanoplates has better electrochemical sensing performance than that of the (001) facet of Co3O4 nanocubes. Adsorption measurements and density-functional theory (DFT) calculations reveals that adsorption of HMIs is responsible for the difference of electrochemical properties. Our combined experimental and theoretical studies provide a solid hint to explain the mechanism of electrochemical detection of HMIs using nanoscale metal oxides. Furthermore, this study not only suggests a promising new strategy for designing high performance electrochemical sensing interface through the selective synthesis of nanoscale materials exposed with different well-defined facets, but also provides a deep understanding for a more sensitive and selective electroanalysis at nanomaterials modified electrodes.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, PR China.
authors.forename: Xin-Yao
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Qiang-Qiang
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Bai
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Qun-Xiang
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jin-Huai
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xing-Jiu
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Huang